Lost in Translation
by tgifridays
Summary: When Pai becomes stranded on earth for who knows how long, it's up to Lettuce Midorikawa to let him live with her for a while. [PaiLettuce]
1. Chapter 1

Upon checking the power on the alien spaceship one Saturday morning, Pai came to discover that the electricity had, for the most part, disappeared.

Pai, still in his pajamas, ignored the problem and went back to bed.

"Pai! Wake up already! The power's gone out!" yelled Kisshu, from outside Pai's bedroom door. Pai swore at the green haired alien, and rolled over in his bed. The alarm clock read 9:00, and he swore at that too.

After a few minutes, it became apparent that Kisshu wasn't going to stop banging on the door, and Pai sleepily got up. Taking his time getting dressed, he finally opened the door to find Kisshu and Taruto trying to ram it down.

"What do you want?" the oldest alien asked, looking annoyed.

"The power's gone out, and now we can't eat breakfast," complained Kisshu. Taruto agreed, nodding furiously.

"Well, the power generator on earth probably disconnected. Maybe someone should go reconnect it."

After a few minutes, Pai gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine then, I'll do it." The other aliens clapped.

Teleporting into downtown Tokyo, Pai surveyed the area, looking for the alien generator. Oil and garbage littered the street, and all the buildings were covered in graffiti. Pai floated up to a cracked window and peered through it, trying to remember where he'd put the generator. Torn furniture lined the walls of the building, but no generator.

Searching a couple deserted alleyways, Pai finally gave up and tried to check his wrist communicator's radar. No such luck, as the power was still out. Readying to teleport again, Pai was stopped by a cry behind him.

Pai turned around to find a figure had klutzily fallen at his feet. Covered in groceries, it took him a minute to figure out who the green-haired girl was. Apologizing profusely, the girl stopped when she recognized Pai.

Lettuce Midorikawa.

Pai stepped back, holding his arms up defensively. Large, red fans appeared in his closed fists.

"W-wait! I don't want to fight you!" said Lettuce, covering her face.

Pai glared at her suspiciously, but put the fans down. "What are you doing here?"

"I wasn't following you, really! I was just buying groceries, and took a shortcut. But then I tripped on a can, and. . ." Lettuce sighed defeatedly. "Please don't hurt me, Pai-san."

Pai turned away, embarassed for some reason. He flinched as he felt himself blush. "Nevermind, I've got somewhere to go anyway." Pai got ready to teleport, and the air around him wavered. Just as his image faded, though, he stopped and fell to the ground.

"What the-!" Pai exclaimed in surprise, falling against the sidewalk. He knew this was bad. Very bad. Since his computer wasn't working, he was unable to contact the other aliens and ask them for help. And since he couldn't fly or teleport, it was going to be very hard to find a place to stay. And only one person knew about this-

Pai and Lettuce sat in akward silence for a few minutes, waiting for the other to say something. When no one did, Pai finally spoke up.

"Well, this is incredibly akward. I know it's unusual to ask a favor of the enemy, but I need to ask you something."

Lettuce's green eyes sparkled. "Yes, Pai-san?"

"Do you know of any place I could stay for several days?"

Lettuce lapsed into a silence, her face holding a thoughtful expression. "Well, I don't think Shirogane-san would let you stay at the cafe, and hotels probably don't rent to aliens, so. . ." She blushed, which really wasn't uncommon for her. "My parents are away for a while, so I suppose you could stay at my house in the meantime."

Pai fell into a choking fit.

After recovering, he finally agreed, and helped Lettuce pick up her groceries. He followed her up the deserted street, and turned left.

"Um, wrong way, Pai-san."

"Oh, I knew that."

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Hi! A lot of people might know me as eeveepuff, and this is the first fic I've ever posted online, and I'm really proud of it. PxL is probably my favorite TMM pairing ever x3 I've written up four chapters so far, and I'll post em' soon. Reviews are love

Tokyo Mew Mew©Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida


	2. Chapter 2

Lettuce inserted her house key into the lock and opened the door. Setting her groceries down on the kitchen table, she told Pai to do the same.

Pai closed the door behind him, looking around at the humble two story home. Across from the entranceway there was the stairs, and beyond that was the kitchen. The room next to the kitchen was the living room, which had a sofa, TV, and bookshelf in it. Various folded blankets and cushions were strewn about the area, and he presumed she'd been sleeping there for some reason.

Pai silently watched Lettuce put away the food in the refrigerator.

Lettuce slowed down slightly. "Um, Pai-san?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you staring at me?"

Pai cringed, stammering something about a bug in her hair.

"Well, I'll be making food soon, so do want to decide where you'll be sleeping?"

Pai nodded, staring at his fingernails.

Lettuce showed him the living room, her own bedroom, her parent's bedroom, and the guest room. Lettuce appeared to be sleeping in the living room, so he instantly canceled that out. It would be very weird sleeping in a girl's bedroom, so he immediately decided against Lettuce's bedroom. And if Mr. and Mrs. Midorikawa came home earlier than expected, it wouldn't be good to be caught in their bed.

So, without hesitation, Pai chose the guest room.

Lettuce ask what he'd like for dinner, since it was almost five o' clock and getting dark. "Anything you prefer? Because otherwise, I was just going to make some pasta."

Pai said he didn't, so Lettuce left him alone to make some spaghetti. The purple-haired alien listened to her footsteps trail off as he searched the cabinets for bombs or hidden traps.

When he finally lay down on the bed, Pai thought to himself that this wasn't too bad. He could last a week like this, as long as the other aliens didn't launch a surprise attack on Tokyo. Then it might be a little weird living with the porpoise mew.

Before drifting off into sleep, he briefly wondered what the other aliens were doing.

"I wonder where Pai is," Kisshu said dully, sorting through the playing cards in his hand.

"Who cares?" the brunette alien said irritably. "Got any twos?"

"Nope, Go Fish."

"Pai-san? Pai-san? Are you awake?"

Pai opened his eyes to find a concerned looking Lettuce standing directly over him. Both yelped in surprise, and Lettuce fell backwards, landing on the floor with a dull thud.

"I'm sorry, Lettuce!" Pai said, quickly helping her to her feet.

"It's alright, Pai-san. It was my fault actually," Lettuce said, staring distractedly at the hand that was still being held by Pai. Pai hastily regained his composure, and dropped her hand.

"So, why did you come and wake me?" Pai asked, averting his gaze.

Lettuce, happy to avoid talking about her hand, replied, "Dinner's ready, and I was wondering if you'd like to eat now. Or maybe if you don't, you don't have to, but-"

"It's alright, I'll have some of this-What is it you humans call it again, again? Sgretti?"

"Spaghetti," Lettuce corrected, guiding Pai towards the dinner table.

Set in the center of the dining room, the wooden table looked very small to Pai. But then again, it was only made for three people.

Lettuce sat down at one end of the table, and Pai across from her. After staring at the noodles on his plate confusedly for a few minutes, Lettuce kind-heartedly offered to show him how to use a fork.

She took the fork, twirled some noodles around it, and fed it to Pai. Lettuce gasped and dropped the fork after realizing what she'd just done, but Pai only smirked, for the most part unfazed. Lettuce, not knowing what to do, punched him.

Lettuce stumbled over to her plate, and with a stream of sorries, she picked it up, ran through the kitchen door, and locked it behind her.

Pai sat with his hand over his nose, wondering what the heck had just happened.

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Meh, this chapter's alright. And for all you peeps out there who question the rating, there's not gonna be more than hugging and kissing. AT ALL. In fact, they don't realize they like eachother until. . .(checks notebook). . .Chapter 8 xD Don't worry people, these are short chapters 3

Tokyo Mew Mew©Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida 


	3. Chapter 3

Omg! I can't believe I'm actually updating after all this time! x0 But truth be told, I just felt super guilty after reading all the nice reviews! (cries) Plus I don't want to post any of my other fanfiction until I've completely uploaded the whole story. Just last night I went through my notebook and revised all eleven chapters. 

I'd like to thank all my nice reviewers

**Chapter 3**

 Sitting by Lettuce's bedroom window, Pai finally became bored of memorizing the human household dictionary. He'd read it three times in the last hour, and only skimmed through the other books on her shelf. He was surprised to learn she read travel guides in her spare time. 

It was Sunday morning, and Lettuce had claimed she had several errands to attend to. Pai tried to fly again, but something must've still been wrong with the generator, because he nearly crippled himself on a wooden chair doing so. He cursed Kisshu and Taruto for being so lazy, and went to rummage through the pantry, after briefly wondering why they needed a generator in the first place. 

Four minutes and a bowl of cereal later, Pai sat down on the living room couch to watch television. Lettuce had done a pretty good job of cleaning, he noticed, as he dully examined the cute little stuffed animals that lined the walls. Their beady black eyes most definitely glistened with malice. 

Around 11 o' clock, Pai became tired of watching talk sh  ow reruns, and looked through the videos in Lettuce's movie cabinet. He'd read about video players in the dictionary, so he finally figured out how to run one. 

Skipping over a couple little kid movies property of Lettuce's brother, he came across several unlabeled tapes. Curiosity got the best of him, and he found himself shoving the tape in. The television screen was fuzzy for a minute before a faded image began to appear. The purple-haired alien squinted. 

It was of a young woman holding the hand of a smiling child with green hair. The woman's face flickered in and out of the screen, but Pai correctly assumed she was Mrs. Midorikawa. The resemblance was kinda scary. Holding a stuffed elephant in her arms, young Lettuce was grinning from ear to ear. 

"So, Lettuce, are you ready for school?" a male voice asked. Mr. Midorikawa. 

"Yep! Lettuce replied eagerly, hugging her mother's leg. "Mommy went to school, too, right? I wanna be just like her when I grow up!" Pai smiled slightly, watching them talk som  e more. She was pretty cute when- 

Pai immediately grabbed hold of his head and hit it against the glass coffee table, trying to clear his mind. He was completely unused to having a second voice in his head constantly disagree with him. 

Mind-readers. Definitely body snatchers, or something of the like. Or maybe he was just paranoid. . . 

When he heard the sound of a doorknob being turned, though, Pai hurriedly turned off the TV. He was putting away the cassette just as Lettuce stepped through the open door. 

Luckily, she was also carrying several shopping bags and didn't see him right away. 

"Oh, hi, Pai-san!" Lettuce said pleasantly, placing the bags on the floor. 

"Hi," Pai said coolly. He was now lying on the couch, trying to look as passive as possible. His passiveness caused his cereal bowl to tip over, though, so he kicked that under the couch. 

"I got you some things at the store, since you might be here a while," Lettuce said nervously, bringing several shopping bags over. Pai raised an eyebro  w, but took them anyway. 

Only seconds later the phone rang, and Lettuce hastily snatched the portable phone off the receiver on the wall. 

"Midorikawa residence, Lettuce Midorikawa speaking," Lettuce responded automatically, and fell silent as the person on the other end spoke. "Oh! Hello, yes, yes, I'm fine. . .No, not at all. It's quite all right. She said that? No, it's fine. Thank you very much, goodbye." 

Pai looked up, suddenly interested. "Who was that?" 

Lettuce looked down, slightly embarassed. "It was Shirogane-san. He wanted to know why I wasn't at work today." 

Pai stiffened slightly, his mood mysteriously darkening. "I didn't know you two were going out," he said, dead calm. 

She blushed and shook her head furiously. "Of course we aren't!   I don't like him like that, and besides, everyone knows he likes-" "But you kissed him," Pai said, still doubtful. 

"That was ages ago," Lettuce stammered, and Pai let the subject drop. He returned to the bag. 

Pai took out a long black t-shirt, black pants, some socks, and a bunch of other stuff piled together. 

Lettuce looked away, completely avoiding his eyes. "I don't spy on you or anything, really! I kinda guessed on everything, since you're probably a head or so taller than me. I just asked a salesperson, and. . ." 

Pai pulled out a long floaty thing. 

"And I even got you floaty ribbons!" Lettuce exclaimed triumphantly, proudly pulling out another floaty thing. "I honestly haven't the slightest clue as to why you have them, so I got some." 

Silence ensued. 

"OhandIgotyousomeboxersandstuffsomaybeyoucangotryonyourclothesormaybeyoucouldborrowmydadsclothesorsomethingIgottagobye," Lettuce breathed, before rushing off to the bathroom looking as though she'd puke. 


	4. Chapter 4

Oh, and I added comments at the end. So yeah.

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Lettuce finally gave up on doing her summer homework after realizing she simply couldn't concentrate on her creative writing. Images of Pai kept entering her mind.

'It's so weird to see him so-so human,' Lettuce thought, setting her metallic pen down. And, truth be told, it was kind of weird to see blush. She'd seen him glare, shout, laugh cruelly, but never blush. Actually, she silently admitted, he was kind of cute when he-

Lettuce gasped, and violently hit her forehead against her desk. She grimaced at the pain, but felt better on the inside. She then changed into more comfortable clothes, stashing away her homework in a drawer to finish later.

The green-haired mew decided she'd make waffles for lunch to make up for possibly embarrassing Pai. Upon deciding this, she felt instantly better and headed downstairs. She prepared the waffle mix, and heated up the waffle iron. Placing whip cream and strawberries on the table, Lettuce neatly arranged the utensils at each seat. Throughout all this, she forgot to ask Pai if he even liked waffles. Oh well.

But unfortunately, due to Lettuce's clumsy nature, she accidentally dropped one of the plates on her way to the table, waffle and all. With a crash, whip cream was sent flying everywhere. Lettuce yelped, barely avoiding stepping on broken plate.

She sighed, knowing she'd have to change her pants again, since it now looked like she'd been in a massacre.

Remembering she'd left the wash cloth on the bathroom counter, Lettuce ran towards the upstairs bathroom.

Pai held up the black t-shirt in front of the mirror, trying to remember whether the itchy tag was supposed to go in the front or the back. Tags were such a hassle. It wasn't like anyone even read them.

Surprisingly enough, the clothes had all fit so far. The purple-haired alien was even able to reattach his floaty purple ribbons to these new human pants. Unusual, to say the least.

Pai wiggled his toes, examining these new "socks".

Just as he was about to put on his shirt the wrong way, the door to the bathroom slammed open. Pai hadn't even remembered to lock the door.

Now, as you can probably imagine, Lettuce found it very unnerving just to talk to Pai. Walking into a bathroom, innocently looking for a washcloth, only to run into Pai shirtless was easily 200 times as mortifying.

Lettuce shrieked, throwing her hands up to her face. Pai shouted something, pulling his shirt on. Stumbling backwards, Lettuce slammed the door shut behind her. Pai fell over, hitting his face against the bathtub.

Both had rarely been more embarrassed in their lives.

Luckily for Lettuce, the doorbell rang at that moment, providing a momentary distraction. She prayed with all her might that it wasn't her parents, because that would mean explaining the half-naked alien in their house. And that would unravel the truth about the mew mews, and blah blah blah. . .

Opening the front door, Lettuce only found a blonde monkey mew on her doorstep.

"Hi, Lettuce onee-chan na no da! I heard the scream from your house while I was walking by, and thought that I should come over-"

Lettuce closed the door behind Pudding as she pulled her inside.

"What's wrong, onee-chan na no da?" Pudding asked, shoving the coats that fallen onto her to the side.

Lettuce stood stiffly, staring at the wall. "You've got to swear not to tell the other mews, Pudding."

Pudding solemnly agreed, but a crash interrupted Lettuce as she spoke.

"I knew it, na no da! You've got a monster hiding in your upstairs bathroom!" the small girl cried, grinning proudly up at the older girl.

"Wait, Pudding! You've got it all-" But it was too late. Pudding had already dashed up the carpeted stairs to beat the monster to death with a coat rack she had recently acquired. Had she been a more reasonable person, she might have stopped and transformed into Mew Pudding, and actually killed Pai. But she wasn't.

"Don't worry, Lettuce onee-chan, I've got it all under control, na no da!" Pudding shouted. Lettuce winced, but remained silent as she followed her.

"What is this, na no da? There appears to be no monster in the-WAUUUGHHH!"

Lettuce arrived at the top of the stairs to find Pai attempting to strangle Pudding.

"P-Pai-san! Please don't kill Pudding!"

"Ye-yesssss, p-please-please d-dun kill me, na no d-da," Pudding barely gasped, trying the pry the aliens large hands off her small throat. Pai finally let go, easily letting the purple Pudding fall to the floor.

Lettuce got to the floor beside Pudding, not sure of what to do next. She proceeded in giving Pudding the heimlech.

After Pudding sucessfully scrambled away, she took a minute to look at her attacker. She was hardly fazed when she realized it was Pai. In fact, she looked like she'd almost expected it to be him.

Pudding snickered, looking back and forth between the two. "I see what's going on, na no da."

"No, Pudding, you've got the wrong idea-"

"It's honestly not what it looks like-"

"You guys are having a sleepover, na no da!" Pudding said brightly. "Why didn't you invite me?"

Lettuce and Pai both rubbed their heads, laughing nervously.

". . .So, can I sleepover too?" Pudding asked, her brown eyes shining.

"Of course you can," Lettuce said. Forcing a smile, she led the younger girl down the stairs. She gave Pai an apologizing look that clearly said 'don't talk to Pudding'. Or maybe it was just him.

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I'm super impatient, so I decided to answer a question from this chapter's reviews xD Mew-Dolphin made a point in her question 'Are Pai and Lettuce gonna do anything but embarrass themselves?' And I'm going to answer this question in song.

Not really D But I'd like to say 2 things.

This story was written 6 months ago. I wasn't a very good writer then, and I'm still not a very good one now. I'm also kinda unoriginal : And

I like writing funny stuff. Your story His Mermaid is ZOMGINCREDIBLYAWESOME(even though those last few chapters completely and utterly broke my heart ;;), Mew-Dolphin, but I can't easily match the goodness if I'm writing comedy, right? That's how pathetic I am D Or insane.

But don't worry. I swear when I'm done with this story I'll write a serious-er story. Now I just need an idea. . .:cries:

Pai: It better not suck :


	5. Chapter 5

Pudding's big sleepover went without hitch for the first few hours, during which the two girls watched movies in complete dark after night fell. The girls watched a movie about aliens and ordered pizza from a nearby pizza place for dinner. Pudding taught the older girl how to play poker, and they played while the blonde girl complained that alien's skin wasn't green and they probably didn't suck out brains like that.

"You sure eat a lot of American food here, na no da," Pudding observed, glancing suspiciously at Lettuce.

"I was raised under an American-Japanese lifestyle?" Lettuce said lamely, hearing her excuse fall dead on the floor even as it left her mouth. She quickly invited Pai to eat dinner with them on the couch to change the subject and he watched the last half of the movie with them. He watched it with considerable irritation, to say the least, still managing to beat Pudding at seventeen hands of poker.

"Anyone want popcorn?" Lettuce asked, jumping to her feet as Pudding cheered enthusiastically.

Pai rolled his eyes, standing up next to her. "Stop troubling yourself over little things, Lettuce-san. I'll get the popcorn," he commanded. She started to feebly protest, insisting that it was the hostess's job to all the little things, but was silenced with a simple raised eyebrow.

Blushing, Lettuce obliged and watched him leave the room. She and Pudding sat for a few seconds in silence while she stared at the television.

"So, Lettuce-oneechan. . ." Pudding said, a confused expression clouding her face. "Did you and Pai make out, na no da?"

Lettuce's face turned a dark shade of tomato red, contrasting nicely to her hair. "P-Pudding! You shouldn't say those kind of things-You're only ten! Besides, I hardly know him!"

The small girl smiled darkly, as though she now knew a secret. "Don't worry, na no da-I won't tell _anyone_."

Lettuce stammered denials in embarrassment, but Pudding just stuck her fingers in her ears and hummed. When Pai returned with a bowl of popcorn, she moved away from Pudding, sinking into the far end of the couch. She patted the cushion next to her, smiling in a way that immediately reminded the alien of Taruto. It was not a good smile.

And thus Pai was left with no choice but to sit next to Lettuce, who was blushing painfully.

Pudding took no notice. She started the next movie, which Lettuce soon realized was a horror film.

"What movie did you rent, Pudding?" Lettuce hissed across the older boy.

"I dummoh," Pudding mumbled incoherently through a face full of food.

A half hour into the movie, Lettuce was sitting with one hand over her eyes, peeking through her fingers, teeth clenched in terror. Bright flashes of blood flickered across the screen, and high-pitched screams were being emitted through the loudspeakers. Pudding, on the other hand, was fascinated with the gory movie.

_'Humans today. Completely desensitized by the media,_' Pai thought in shock, glancing down at the blonde girl. He turned slightly, trying to see if Lettuce was still breathing.

And he became distracted by other matters.

Like the fact that Lettuce's immaculate nails were now digging into the palm of his hand, her knuckles white.

_'How long has she been holding my hand?'_ Pai wondered. He looked up at the screen, where crowds of zombies were surrounding a house.

The teenage girl jumped in her seat, latching completely onto his arm, her eyes squinted shut. He jumped too. Her face was pressed against Pai, probably creating a bruise on his upper arm. But what scared Pai more than the possibility of a bruise or the horde of zombies on the screen was that Lettuce was hanging onto his arm for dear life. . .

_. . .and he didn't mind._ In fact, it kind of made of made him warm and fuzzy. If only he was helping her be being a sufficient pincushion. Wow, he could really do without the nails. He silently tried to pry the embedded nails out of his hand, quickly giving up.

_'I've finally gone mad,_' Pai thought dismally. But it was bound to happen. Practically impossible if you usually lived with Kisshu and Taruto 24/7. He sighed, causing Lettuce to realize what she was holding onto. She turned red and pulled away, turning in her seat.

But the movie finished without problem, aside from Lettuce possibly being psychologically scarred for life from all the blood. Pudding had fallen asleep through all the screaming, silently snoring on the couch.

Pai turned off the television and Lettuce covered the sleeping mew with a fuzzy blanket.

"I'm probably gonna sleep out here, too," she said, yawning. "You can stay up if you want, Pai-san. Just don't make too much noise."

"No, I'll probably go to bed now." He paused, half-turned towards the staircase. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Um, okay," Lettuce said timidly, looking up from her makeshift bed.

"Tomorrow-I was wondering. . ."

"Y-yeah?" Lettuce asked, thinking for a wild moment he was actually going to ask her out.

"Will you show me how to use the computer? I'm kind of curious about the human technology."

Or not.

"Sure, Pai-san," Lettuce said with a smile. "Good night."

"'Night."l


	6. Chapter 6

Pai never got to play with human technology like he wanted to, though, because of a certain blonde girl. And her name was Pudding.

Lettuce woke up unusually early to the yelling of a certain monkey mew. She groggily rolled off the couch, landing with a heavy thud on the carpet. She briefly wondered how she'd gotten there before groggily stumbling to her feet.

"Let's go the park! The park, na no da! The park!"

A grumpy looking Pai soon joined them, obviously not used to being screamed at so early in the morning.

"It's too early to go to the park, monkey girl," Pai snarled, pouring himself a bowl of cheerios.

Pudding's brown eyes grew large and filled with tears. "B-but, I wanted to go to the p-park with you and Lettuce onee-ch-chan, na no da," she sniffled. She was even already all dressed up, wearing her brown jacket and boots.

And it was on this note that they begrudgingly left for the park.

"It seems even you have a soft spot for girls," Lettuce giggled, swatting him good-naturedly on the shoulder. Blushing, Pai stumbled on a tree root on the way to the playground, immediately sending Lettuce into panic mode.

"Stop hitting him, Lettuce onee-chan-He's obviously very fragile, na no da," Pudding shouted from the monkey bars, rolling her eyes. Pai mumbled something threatening, but continued walking with most of his dignity through the trees. The big yellow playground was free of children due to the early hour, and Pudding got it all to herself. Or maybe it was the ominous shade of the sky that scared the kiddies away. Pai and Lettuce sat down on a blue bench not far away and watched her do flips on the swingset.

"Er, looks like it's gonna rain," Lettuce said, trying to make conversation. She pointed upwards, where dark clouds were indeed rolling in.

'_Great, Lettuce. Talk about the weather. _That's_ original,' _Lettuce thought.

"I miss earth weather," Pai said, not noticing the fact that she hit herself a couple times. "The trees are very beautiful at this time of year, despite the cold." Lettuce nodded in agreement, looking up at the red-orange leaves.

"Are you cold?" Pai asked suddenly, noticing her shiver. She was wearing a t-shirt and capris, foolishly expecting it to be warmer.

"Oh, me? Don't worry, I'll be fine," Lettuce lied through her teeth, waving her hands no.

Pai took off his black jacket and handed it to the startled girl. "Here, wear this." He gave her a small smile, making it impossible for her to say no out of sheer surprise. She knew even now that she'd never get used to him smiling at her like that, and that it would always catch her off guard.

She put the coat on, and the pair fell into nervous silence.

"Hey, you guys!" Pudding shouted from the top of the swingset after several minutes. "Let's play hide and seek, na no da!"

Lettuce hesitantly agreed to, and Pai was pestered into playing.

"I'll count to thirty, na no da. I have to come find you, and the loser is put through the winner's choice of torture."

"When did that become a rule?" Lettuce asked in exasperation, but Pai almost instantly disappeared, racing off in the opposite direction. For someone who normally floated around, he was incredibly fast. Lettuce, on the other hand, confusedly ran around in circles for ten seconds before she, too, hurried away.

"Twenty-two, na no da, twenty-three, na no da. . ."

Lettuce rushed around in a panicked frenzy, terrified of what humiliation Pudding might put her through. She could still remember the time Pudding had forced a tutu on an upset Shirogane-san when he'd lost a bet. . .

She twisted around a large tree, tripping on something. That something grunted in intense pain as she hit her head against his. Hidden under a pile of leaves, Lettuce landed half on top of the purple-haired alien. She blindly attempted to wiggle away, but she could no longer feel her feet. For one terrifying moment she feared she'd lost them, but she quickly located them sprawled behind her.

"Ready or not, here I come, na no da!" Pudding called from across the park, while Pai swore through his teeth.

Lettuce's arms were wrapped around the older boy's neck, and his own left arm was around her waist. Lettuce began to squirm away, but Pai stopped her.

"Shhhhhh," he hissed, his face a dark shade of red. "She's coming this way."

Apparently he took this game very seriously.

Pais forehead was against hers, and he could smell her hair. It smelled unnaturally nice. For a human. But Lettuce continued to surprise him. Looking down, his amethyst eyes locked with her bright blue ones, and she blushed, hastily casting her gaze downwards. They sat without moving for almost ten minutes before Pudding's approaching footsteps grew louder.

After another three minutes, Lettuce and Pai were almost sure she wasn't going to find them. Lettuce's eyes widened further as she was pressed closer agains his warm chest as he gave a sigh of relief.

Pai shifted slightly, and craned his neck around the trunk to get a better look, when Pudding jumped out of the very same tree. "Gotcha, na no da!" Pudding yelled, landing in the pile of leaves. Lettuce screamed, and Pai grimaced visibly as the young girl landed on his leg.

"Don't worry," Pudding said, while Pai brushed the leaves off himself. "I won't put the two of you through any humiliation, na no da."

Lettuce let out the breath she'd been holding.

"I think it's bad enough I got a picture of you two tangled up underneath that tree," to which Pudding held up a disposable camera.

Even the purple-haired alien chased Pudding home, trying to snatch the yellow camera she was waving around triumphantly.

It began to rain.


	7. Chapter 7

I am so happy every time I get a review, I cannot possibly express myself with words x3 I'd like to thank you all individually, but I'm way too lazy xD Please review after you read!!

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It'd been raining for almost two days, and it didn't show any signs of letting up. The streets had flooded, and Lettuce was yet to see one person outside since the trip to the park. In fact, when she looked out the window, she saw several bicycles float by.

"I think it's pretty safe to say you'll be staying with us for awhile," Lettuce told Pudding, glad they were stocked on food. "But who'll take care of your siblings?"

"Don't worry, na no da. I got Tar-Tar to take care of them!" Pudding chirped.

"They're eating meeeee!" a certain brunette wailed from where he was lying on the ground. Several small girls clung to his legs, while the others danced around him. Candy wrappers littered the ground.

Pai snickered. "That must be going well."

Lettuce frowned, setting down her book. "He doesn't exactly seem like the ideal babysitter to me. . ."

"Don't worry," Pudding smiled. "As long as he didn't give them candy, he should be fine, na no da."

Lettuce gazed out the window at the bleak sky, where rain still poured harder than ever. She stood up from the table where they'd been gin rummy and stretched. "I'm gonna go take a bath- I'll be back soon." The porpoise mew disappeared upstairs, her footsteps fading away.

Pudding looked at Pai slyly. "You _know. . ._"

"I don't want to hear it."

Pudding gave him a defeated look and slid off her chair. "Fine then, be that way, na no da." She hopped up the stairs to wait for the older girl to finish her bath.

Pai looked across the table and saw the book Lettuce had been reading. Another romance novel. She seemed to have her nose constantly buried in those things, he realized, casually picking it up. He leaned back in his seat and began to read.

Half an hour later, Pudding and Lettuce were sitting in the latter's bedroom. Lettuce was hugging a pillow on her bed while Pudding attempted to braid her dark green hair. It was only nine o' clock, and she wasn't very tired, but Lettuce was wearing her shamrock green pajamas. Pudding had borrowed a long black t-shirt to wear.

"There, I'm done, na no da," Pudding exclaimed, handing the older girl a mirror. Lettuce admired the damage for several seconds before starting on Pudding's.

The phone rang suddenly, but stopped before Lettuce could reach it.

"It's for you," Pai shouted from downstairs. Lettuce picked up the portable and heard a click as Pai hung up. For several seconds all she heard was silence.

". . . Hello?" Lettuce said timidly.

"Oh, hey, Lettuce, it's me! Ichigo!" a female voice said hesitantly.

"Hello, Ichigo-san!" Lettuce said, brightening slightly. "How've you been?"

"Um, fine. Was that. . ._Pai _I just spoke to?"

"Yeah. Don't ask, please? It's kind of a long story."

Her friend shrugged over the phone. "O-_kay, _whatever you say. And don't worry," she giggled, "I won't tell Shirogane-san. He'd probably send in the firing squad or something. As long as you guys aren't having some weird affair."

"We-We're not having an affair!" Lettuce stammered to Pudding's amusement.

Ichigo talked for a bit while Lettuce bobbed her head sympathetically and asked questions in the right places before static filled the phone and the line suddenly went dead.

"Ichigo-san? Ichigo-san, are you there?"

Retasu squeaked as the lights flickered and went out.

"Cool!" Pudding exclaimed, while Retasu waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She tentatively got up from her bed and left the room, Pudding following her closely as they crept down the steps to the kitchen where Pai was nowhere in sight.

"Come on, Pudding, let's try and find the candles," Lettuce said, straining her eyes against the pitch black.

Unbalanced as ever, it didn't take very long for the older mew to trip over something and hurtle towards the ground.

"Shoot," Pai muttered, immediately appearing at her side as he caught her by the small of her back. "Are you alright?" he asked, his voice close to her ear. Lettuce felt a strand of his hair brush her face and managed a weak nod. Helped to her feet, she stammered a string of apologies.

"It's fine," Pai said, looking away.

"Don't you have a fireplace, Lettuce onee-chan?" Pudding interrupted, the first to notice that they were _still_ all standing in the dark. "Maybe we can light it in the living room, na no da." They reached the living room in a crude game of follow the leader, blindly trailing Pai.

Lettuce struggled to move the television to the side, revealing an old brick fireplace behind it. Pai somehow managed to light it with some silverware, and the two mews sat on the floor and talked while he stared at the dark ceiling from the couch.

"Let's play a game, na no da!" Pudding suddenly cried.

"No, thank you," the two teenagers replied simultaneously.

"It's a good game this time, though," the blonde insisted, frowning.

"What is it?" Retasu asked, curiosity getting the best of her. Pai's eyes narrowed visibly.

Pudding disappeared for several minutes and returned carrying a terribly familiar pink box. "Let's play Pudding's love test!"

"Not this again, Pudding!" Retasu squealed, her face bright red at the memory of the last time she'd tried to use it on her. "Put that thing away!"

Pai raised one long eyebrow, leaning closer to get a better view. "What is that?"

"I-It's nothing!" Retasu said, pushing the older boy away.

"It's a love test to figure out if you two are soul mates!" Pudding grinned proudly, "It's an old Fon family machine, na no da, and it's almost never wrong!"

"Soul mates?" Pai repeated, blushing faintly at the idea. "That's silly, monkey girl. I'll have to insist you put that away." But it was too late, Pudding was already typing in their names on the candy pink keyboard.

"Pudding!" Lettuce shoved the younger girl out of the way, but the machine was already calculating the results. Her face was on fire as she saw the percentage. Pudding started laughing.

"W-What's so funny?" Pai demanded, seeing the look of absolute mortification on the porpoise mew's face.

"It's one hundred percent, na no da!"Pudding grinned, showing Pai the machine, which did, indeed, display a huge 100. "You guys are destined to be!"

"You can't base that kind of stuff on a machine, Pudding," Retasu said, though her hands were still hiding her face.

"Is it true, Pai na no da? Do you think Retasu onee-chan's _beautiful?_ Do you want to _hold_ her? Do you want to _kiss_ her? Do you want to have _babies-_"

"I think it's time for bed," Pai said through gritted teeth, his face an uncharacteristically dark shade of red.

Ten minutes later Pudding had begrudgingly fallen asleep, and Retasu was snoring softly beside her, her face still a pale shade of pink. Pai would never admit it, but it was incredibly amusing to watch her flustered. Lying on his side covered in pillows courtesy of the monkey girl, Pai watched Lettuce sleep. She looked especially sweet in this state, her chest barely rising and falling as she breathed. Her face was framed with soft hair and her skin shone by the fire.

Pai would never admit it, but. . .

. . .She really was beautiful.

And that was the last thing Pai though before he fell asleep, too.


	8. Chapter 8

I am so sorry I never update, you guys- But here it is, chapter 8! Only. . .three more :o Or four. I forget.

Reviews are like tiny little Christmas presents!

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Lettuce woke up four hours later when the thunder started.

Pai was still sleeping several feet to her right, lifeless as a rock, and Pudding was. . .nowhere in sight. Every few seconds a bright flash of light would fill up the room, followed closely by the crash of thunder. Staggering blindly in the dark, as the fire had gone out, she noticed that her glasses were missing.

Lettuce felt along the walls until she reached the bathroom. She knocked. There was no answer. She continued to inch along the living room, and tripped on something in the process.

"Darn it," Lettuce murmured irritably (she was incapable of swearing from birth), realizing it was Pudding's love test upon closer examination with a grimace. She tossed it to the side, smiling to herself as it landed with a satisfying _thud_. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the dark corridor, as the lightning wasn't visible from the windowless hallway.

"Pudding. . .Where are you," Lettuce called softly, checking her bedroom. She didn't hear or see anything unusual until she reached her parents' bedroom, where the door was slightly ajar. The green-haired girl instantly noticed a shivering lump underneath the covers.

"Is that you, Pudding? It's me, Lettuce-" she carefully pulled aside the blankets, revealing a shaking Pudding. Curled up into the pillows, she was staring at the closet, her eyes wide. Lettuce gasped as she placed a hand to her forehead.

"Pudding, I think you have a fever- What happened?"

Pudding pointed slowly at the closet. "Pudding heard n-noises, na no da, so I came to inv-investigate. _I think I killed it_."

The poor girl was hallucinating. Lettuce tried to look sympathetic, but it was difficult. Standing up slowly, she made her way to the closet door. "There's nothing in there, Pudding, look-"

She opened the door. Lying on the floor was an unconscious Taruto, a huge bruise on his forehead and his limbs splayed in all directions.

This was not what Lettuce needed right now. She shut the door.

"See, nothing there!"

Using all her willpower not to freak out, she managed to pick up the feverish girl, sheets and all, stumbling out into the hallway. She cautiously started down the stairs, when she heard approaching footsteps. She winced, terrified that Taruto had regained consciousness. Her first instinct was to reach for her pepper spray, before she realized that she didn't own any.

To her immense relief, it was only Pai. He started to say something, but realized Lettuce's grip on the small blonde was slipping, and Pudding, who was dangling dangerously by the sheets, was on the brink of tumbling down the steps. He took Pudding form Lettuce and turned to continue down the stairs.

'_It's weird how that even though he's only been here for a week, I've gotten kind of used to him. A week ago, I would never have trusted him, but now. . .'_ She smiled and followed him.

Pai set Pudding down at the kitchen table, where, miracle of all miracles, a single light was working. It was actually a candle, but _still._

Lettuce grabbed some blankets and put them around Pudding, who was still shivering. She sneezed.

"Do you want some hot chocolate, Pudding?"

Pudding nodded tiredly, and Lettuce got out the mix. She put the drink in the battery-powered microwave "Could you check her temperature, Pai-san?"

Pai put his hand on her forehead and stared at it for a second. "She'll be fine- She only has a cold. Her temperature's not even a hundred."

"How can you tell?" Lettuce asked incredulously, setting the hot chocolate in front of Pudding, who sipped it eagerly.

Pai shrugged. "It's basic training on my planet."

Lettuce nodded. "That makes sense." She sat down next to Pudding, who had finally stopped shaking.

"Are you going to be okay, Pudding?" Lettuce asked, drinking her own hot chocolate. She had handed a mug to Pai, who was leaning against the counter, looking out the window (it had begun snowing along with the rain).

Yeah, Lettuce onee-chan na no da," Pudding said. "Thank you, Pai onii-chan."

Pai looked up. "I'm sorry?"

"Don't worry, it's a good thing," Lettuce said, smiling up at him. A flash of lighting lit up the room. Pudding's head drooped, and she fell asleep against the table.

"Would you mind taking Pudding upstairs? She can sleep in my bed. "I'll just sleep on the couch again."

Pai felt a pang of guilt, an unfamiliar emotion for him, causing him to feel, uh, guilty.

"You can sleep with me," he said. Only after Lettuce's blue eyes grew considerably and she became bright red did he realize what had come out of his mouth.

"I meant that you could sleep in the guest room and I'd take the couch-"

"It's okay, I get it, d-don't worry, I'll just go, and-" Lettuce stammered, running straight into the opposite wall, before hurrying away to the guest room.

'_That went well.'_

With a sigh, Pai picked up the snoring Pudding, and carried her up the staircase, before gracelessly tossing her on Lettuce's bed. She slept right through it. He left the room as silently as possibly, heading back downstairs.

"Pai-san?"

He turned to see the green-haired girl in the doorway of the guest bedroom, biting her lip as she kept his gaze.

"Yes?" Pai said, trying to keep his face blank.

Lettuce took a few steps forward, looking down. "Um, thanks for the help. It's actually been nice having you over. It was no trouble at all. And I just wanted to say-"

Lettuce closed her eyes, scratching her head.

"To say-"

And Pai in one moment of total insanity did something so strange that it shocked even himself, and practically killed Lettuce. He reached out and hugged her, wrapping his strong arms around her slim frame.

"So, I should thank _you._ I'm glad that there are humans like you. People who are kind, and caring, and go out of their way to help others, even if they are enemies. And I think that with you around, there might be hope for the earth after all."

Lettuce smiled into his shoulder, hugging him back.

"Thanks, that means a lot to me."

She decided not to tell him about the unconscious brunette locked inside her parents' closet.


End file.
